Andrew wanted to ask her number and if she was single, but he had learned from his sister’s boyfriends that he couldn’t put women on a pedestal if he wanted to have a chance with them; she had a thing for bad boys. What was it called again, cold approach? He probably didn’t have any chance since he was a ghost, but his mindset was still working as usual.
"My name… I haven’t designated any name for myself. What do you think my name should be?" the blond woman asked.
Andrew would blink for a while if he had eyelids. That woman was pretty and sexy, but she was probably too weird. Andrew wondered if she was some sort of special alien that didn’t give names to their offspring. Still, she looked weirdly human. He wanted to ask her if she had a hobby of sharpening knives.
"... How about Angela? You look like an angel, after all," Andrew asked, wondering if she would like that.
"Angela, I like it," Angela said and then showed the sweetest of smiles that Andrew had seen. He would have gotten diabetes if he had a body.
"Anyway… what am I doing here?" Andrew asked. "What about my other questions? Is my karma positive? Saving someone before dying should have increased my karma by over nine thousand points at least. Don’t be cheap."
"While I have some powers, there are some conditions for me to use them," Angela explained. "I can only affect people like you. About my origin… I can't explain."
"Someone like me, what do you mean?" Andrew asked, already tired of trying to show facial expressions.
"I can't explain without causing you problems," Angela said after she closed her eyes.
"Why?" Andrew asked.
"I can't explain why I can't explain either," Angela replied, unable to hide her discomfort. It looked like she didn’t enjoy that situation much either.
"I can't see the point of hiding anything from a ghost," Andrew said.
"Well, that is because soon you won’t be a ghost, and I will need you to keep your memories," Angela explained. "Until the time comes, I can’t reveal more aside from the fact that you need to keep living in that world and look for some mysteries and try to solve them."
"Wait, I am going to be reincarnated?" Andrew asked. "That is great, but I would rather not take the spot of a real kid in another world. I may be borderline creepy, but I have my morals to consider. They aren’t plenty, but they do exist."
"Don’t worry, you will be taking the place of a stillborn baby," Angela replied.
"Well… things got dark quite fast," Andrew said. "Regardless, why are you giving me this chance, and why do I have to keep looking for mysteries? Are you a fan of Scooby-Doo or something?"
"I can’t explain why, but doing that might help me. There are things that I need to know, and the mysteries might give me some insight," Angela explained and then got up while showing a bit of a regretful expression. "I wish that I could talk with you, but I can only do this much… we will meet again."
"Wait! Wait! I can’t be reincarnated like this. I need to know more," Andrew asked. "Also, I need some cheat skills; those are the rules! Maybe I shouldn’t be so greedy since that will decrease my karma value… sorry."
"Enjoy your new life, Gaius," Angela said while showing a gentle smile. "Please, sa—”
When Andrew opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in an unfamiliar place. When he tried to get up, he failed to muster the strength necessary, and in his confusion, he recalled what had happened.
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"I died and… I met Angela," Andrew thought while frowning. "It is hard to believe that I am not hallucinating, but…"
Andrew focused his eyes around, and then he noticed that he could move himself a little. The ceiling was made of old and rough wood, and it wasn’t something he was supposed to see on Earth. It looked like he truly had been reincarnated.
While looking at the sides, Andrew saw the bars of what seemed to be a brand-new cradle. It looked like his new parents had invested quite a lot in his arrival since it was quite comfortable.
"Hmm, it will be a bit awkward to spend a few years as a child again…" Andrew thought and then turned to the other side only to see the bed of his parents.
It looked like it was the middle of the night since some candles were burning nearby, and two adults were sleeping on an old bed. It was hard to be sure, but they looked quite a bit exhausted, and the woman had her eyes and nose swollen, probably because she had cried too much. She was sniffing too, so he imagined that his guess was correct.
"... Come to think of it, Angela sent me to the body of a stillborn child," Andrew thought. "She also called me Gaius… is that my new name here? It will be difficult to get used to that new name."
In any case, Gaius' parents would probably have one hell of a shock once they noticed that their son wasn’t dead. There were a lot of things to consider, and that was just one out of many. First of all, Gaius had to learn more about that world and plan his life wisely to make the most of it. While he didn’t think that he wasted his previous one, he was fully aware that he had dismissed some good opportunities out of foolishness.
"This is my second chance, and I shouldn’t expect that I will have a third one… I need to use everything at my disposal well, and…" Gaius stopped thinking when he realized that his nose was getting itchy thanks to an ant walking on it.
Gaius had a hard time moving his arms to get rid of the ant since it was disrupting his important monologue. So, he just turned around and then smashed it against the bed with his nose.
(The creature Ant has been added to your summoning list.)
(System Activation Completed.)
"Eh?" Gaius frowned in shock due to the surprise.
The surprises didn’t end there. Gaius saw a red, blue, and green bar appear in the upper corner of his vision. It was like a game interface. While he had given up on the standard other-world cheat since he wasn’t a black-haired Japanese boy denser than osmium, it looked like Angela had been kind enough to give him a hand. She hid a lot of things from him, but she didn’t seem like a bad person. Or maybe that was just his own bias since she was hot.
"Don’t let them fool you, son," Gaius thought. "Don’t put the hottest girl you have seen on a pedestal and focus on improving yourself. Amen. I will never change, will I? My class should be Cringe Lord or something."
Gaius Lv 0 (001/1000) - Limitless Summoner
Health: 10/10
Mana: 10/10
Stamina: 10/10
After muttering his mantra, Gaius went to check the system. He apparently even had a class… but it made sense considering what he had heard earlier. In any case, after he focused his eyes for a short while, the system window expanded.
Health: 10/10
Mana: 10/10
Stamina: 10/10
Strength: 01
Endurance: 01
Adaptability: 01
Magic: 01
Resistance: 01
Wisdom: 01
Dexterity: 01
Perception: 01
Luck: 01
Free Points: 00
"Wow… too many parameters!" Gaius thought in shock. "Six should be the max, but I guess all of them are important. Let’s see if I can see anything further."
Strength: Each point increases your health by five points. It also increases your ability to carry weight and cause more damage when using physical attacks.
Endurance: Each point increases your health by five points. It also decreases the damage caused by physical attacks by one point.
Adaptability: Increases your overall ability to endure harsh environments. You can stay underwater for longer, or you can keep yourself under control while enduring freezing cold or burning heat.
Magic: Each point increases your mana by five points. It also improves the damage caused when using magic.
Resistance: Each point increases your mana by five. Decreases the effects of spells that cause damage against you by one point each.
Wisdom: Increases your mana regeneration by one point. It also improves your overall control over mana.
Dexterity: Each point increases your stamina by five. It also improves your ability to perform some special actions like handling difficult weapons.
Perception: Each point increases your stamina by five. Makes you able to understand things faster and see fast actions or projectiles with more ease.
Luck: Increases your chances of getting into more favorable situations and events, like finding rare creatures or information that you need.
"I see, I see… six of them affect me directly, and the other three are way more situational," Gaius thought. "Adaptability, Wisdom, and Luck still can be very useful, but I need to be more cautious since I probably won’t be able to level up that easily."
Limitless Summoner
Summoning List: Ant Lv 0
Ant Lv 0 (0.01%)
Cost: 10 mana
Charge: 00
Summoning Bonuses: Perception +01
Loyalty: 100/100